Brady Cates
bcates@uwyo.edu
They say that it doesn’t rain in San Diego, but on Wednesday night it rained and then it rained some more.
The Wyoming Cowboys are not used to rain in the middle of December, it’s normally snowing and Laramie is seeing below freezing temperatures. But it was a little different in San Diego.
The Cowboys couldn’t quite get it done in the San Diego Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, as they fell to the BYU Cougars 24-21.
“I would like to compliment our football team, to go from two wins to where we are at now, that’s a change as far as the type of culture we want from this program,” head coach Craig Bohl said.
The Cowboy offense struggled mightily in the first half, which partially had something to do with the absence of Brian Hill in the first quarter due to disciplinary reasons. Special teams struggled in the game, but the defense hung in tight the whole game after losing a couple good players to injury in the first half.
The offense wasn’t able to muster up any points in the first half, getting only 119 yards of total offense. The rain might have had something to do with this, as some would say it was a downpour in the first half. The Cowboys’ hurt themselves more than anything in the first half, with senior punter Ethan Wood mishandling the snap on a punt that allowed BYU to punch it into the end zone from just a few yards out. The defense only gave up 10 points in the first half, but the Pokes saw themselves down 10-0 going into halftime.
“The weather affected both teams, but I thought maybe it affected us a little bit more, certainly in the area of handling the ball,” Bohl said. “Not only on regular downs, throwing the football, trying to catch it and then some special team plays. But that’s just part of the game.”
Things really started to turn around for the Cowboys in the second half when the rain started to slow down a little and quarterback Josh Allen started to find his groove in the passing game. Allen started to hook up with his favorite target senior wide receiver Tanner Gentry a lot in the second half, which gave the Cowboys some momentum.
“Just as the game went on we talked about things they were doing, but I think they were doing exactly what we saw in the film,” Gentry said. “I think in the second half as the weather died down, it was easier for us to throw and catch.”
The Cowboys got on the board for the first time in the game with a long drive that took almost 9 minutes off the clock, ending in a Brian Hill touchdown run. Then Wyoming found its pace in the passing game once the fourth quarter begin. But the Cowboys had a lot of catching up to do as they found themselves down 24-7 going into the fourth quarter.
This is when the switch was turned on with Gentry, as he caught his first touchdown pass of the game from Allen to start the comeback and make the score 24-14 with 7:35 left in the game. Gentry was on a mission to go out with a bang, as this was his last game wearing brown and gold. Allen was able to find Gentry again in the end zone on their very next drive to cut the BYU lead to 24-21 with 2:11 remaining in the game.
Next, it was all on the defense to get a stop and give the ball back to their offense. They did just that. Defensive end Kevin Prosser was able to sack BYU quarterback Tanner Mangum to give the ball back to the offense with 1:44 left on the clock.
Wyoming started their drive on the just at mid-field and they only needed a field goal to tie the game and send it into overtime. They got the ball down to the BYU 32-yard line and then the next play was when the hearts of Wyoming fans broke.
Allen tried to do what he has been doing all season. He rolled out to his right, looking for a receiver downfield and threw the ball on the run, which was intercepted by BYU’s Kai Nacua. That would do it for the Cowboys and their comeback.
“I think they covered our play pretty well and Josh [Allen] rolled out and does what he does all the time and that’s make plays,” Gentry said. “He made the decision and we’re going to live with that. But I’ve seen him make countless throws on the run for completions.”
Wyoming’s season came to an end with that throw as BYU won the Poinsettia Bowl 24-21 over the Cowboys. Wyoming made a huge turnaround this year as they went from 2-10 last year to 8-6 this year, making it to a very good bowl game.
“We might be a little bit ahead of where I thought we could be, but I think the biggest X factor is our guys believe they can win,” Bohl said. “The result to go out and compete and never say die is what we want with this program.”
